Boquet River

Main Species present- brown trout, brook trout, rainbow trout, smallmouth bass, northern pike, rock bass, and landlocked salmon (seasonal)

The Boquet River starts as a small brook high in the Adirondacks Mountains. Wild brook trout are the predominate species up here, but they are very small. It is the area further downstream near Elizabethtown where the Boquet takes on its character. This area is stocked with brown trout, but brown trout are also wild here. This was evidenced by the fact that I caught a 5" brown trout, which is smaller than the stocking size. However this middle section of the river sees a lot of fishing pressure, so many of the spring stocker browns were gone by the time I fished here in late July, and that 5 incher was the only fish I caught in about two hours of fishing.

The Boquet below Willsboro is known for its world class salmon run. The salmon run here, Atlantic Landlocked Salmon, is a fishery where fish in the 10 lb range are not uncommon. There are two primary runs, one in the Spring and one in the Fall. The Spring run can generally be put into the mid-March to mid-April time-frame and the Fall run is generally a late September event. The Fall run produces the fish of the larger size group to a great extent.

Generally, large streamers, Muddler Minnows, Hair-wing Atlantic salmon flies, and other large nymphs are the weapons of choice.

PUBLISHED BY NY DEC